A novel comparative research platform designed to determine the functional significance of tree species diversity in European forests

Baeten, Lander; Verheyen, Kris; Wirth, Christian; Bruelheide, Helge; Bussotti, Filippo; Finér, Leena; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Selvi, Federico; Valladaresh, Fernando; Allan, Eric; Ampoorter, Evy; Auge, Harald; Avăcăriței, Daniel; Barbaro, Luc; Bărnoaiea, Ionuț; Bastías, Cristina C.; Bauhus, Jürgen; Beinhoff, Carsten; Benavides, Raquel; Benneter, Adam; Sigrid, Berger; Berthold, Felix; Boberg, Johanna; Bonal, Damien; Braggernann, Wolfgang; Carnol, Monique; Castagneyrol, Bastien; Charbonnier, Yohan; Chećko, Ewa; Coomes, David A.; Coppi, Andrea; Dalmaris, Eleftheria; Dănilă, Gabriel; Dawud, Seid Muhie; Vries, Wim de; Wandeler, Hans De; Deconchat, Marc; Domisch, Timo; Duduman, Gabriel; Fischer, Markus; Fotelli, Mariangela N.; Geßler, Arthur; Gimeno, Teresa E.; Granier, André; Grossiord, Charlotte; Guyot, Virginie; Hantsch, Lydia; Haettenschwiler, Stephan; Héctor, Andy; Hermy, Martin; Holland, V.; Jactel, Hervé; Joly, François‐Xavier; Jucker, Tommaso; Kolb, Simon; Koricheva, Julia; Lexer, Manfred J.; Liebergesell, Mario; Milligan, Harriet; Müller, Sandra; Muys, Bart; Nguyen, Diem; Nichiforel, Liviu; Pollastrini, Martina; Proulx, Raphaël; Rabasa, Sonia G.; Radoglou, K.; Ratcliffe, Sophia; Raulund‐Rasmussen, Karsten; Seiferling, Ian; Stenlid, Jan; Vesterdal, Lars; Wilpert, Klaus von; Zavala, Miguel Á.; Zielínski, Dawid; Scherer‐Lorenzen, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2013.07.002

Cited by 193 publications

(242 citation statements)

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“…boku.ac.at/). Because we were interested in the effects of tree species diversity on ecosystem functioning in mature forests (38), plot selection was aimed at mimicking the design of a biodiversity experiment, in which variation in environment is minimized and diversity is not confounded with composition, as in most observational studies of diversity. Hence, the design aimed to bridge the gap between controlled but very young tree diversity experiments and observational studies, where diversity can be strongly confounded with other factors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plots were located in six European countries, ranging from boreal to Mediterranean zones, and with each representing a major European forest type (38): Finland (28 plots, boreal forest), Poland (43 plots, hemiboreal forest), Germany (38 plots, temperate deciduous forest), Romania (28 plots, mountainous deciduous forest), Italy (36 plots, thermophilous deciduous forest), and Spain (36 plots, Mediterranean mixed forest) (SI Appendix, Fig. S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each country, between three and five regionally common target species were selected, 15 in total (SI Appendix, Table S1). Plots were then selected to differ as much as possible in richness of target species and so that almost all possible combinations of these target species were realized, a design that emulates the designs of biodiversity experiments (38). Richness levels of one, two, three, four, and five target species were replicated 56, 67, 54, 29, and 3 times, respectively, across countries, and most possible target species compositions were realized [additional details on the selection procedure are provided in the study by Baeten et al (38)].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To do so, we used data taken from a pan-European forest dataset consisting of 209 forest plots, specifically selected to investigate relationships between tree diversity and ecosystem functioning by maximizing variation in dominant "target" species richness and minimizing (i) variation in other potential drivers of ecosystem function (e.g., soil and climatic conditions) and (ii) covariation between tree α-diversity, species composition, and environmental variables as much as possible (38). Our plot selection therefore aimed to mimic biodiversity experiments to investigate relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in mature forests, which are difficult to undertake with manipulative approaches due to the longevity of tree species.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our plot selection therefore aimed to mimic biodiversity experiments to investigate relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in mature forests, which are difficult to undertake with manipulative approaches due to the longevity of tree species. The plots were widely distributed across six European countries, spanning boreal to Mediterranean zones and representing six major European forest types (38). In each plot, 16 ecosystem processes, functions, or properties (termed "functions" hereafter) were measured.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Biotic homogenization can decrease landscape-scale forest multifunctionality

Plas

Manning

Soliveres

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Many experiments have shown that local biodiversity loss impairs the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple ecosystem functions at high levels (multifunctionality). In contrast, the role of biodiversity in driving ecosystem multifunctionality at landscape scales remains unresolved. We used a comprehensive pan-European dataset, including 16 ecosystem functions measured in 209 forest plots across six European countries, and performed simulations to investigate how local plot-scale richness of tree species (α-diversity) and their turnover between plots (β-diversity) are related to landscape-scale multifunctionality. After accounting for variation in environmental conditions, we found that relationships between α-diversity and landscape-scale multifunctionality varied from positive to negative depending on the multifunctionality metric used. In contrast, when significant, relationships between β-diversity and landscape-scale multifunctionality were always positive, because a high spatial turnover in species composition was closely related to a high spatial turnover in functions that were supported at high levels. Our findings have major implications for forest management and indicate that biotic homogenization can have previously unrecognized and negative consequences for large-scale ecosystem multifunctionality.Additional co-authors: Damien Bonal, Olivier Bouriaud, Helge Bruelheide, Filippo Bussotti, Monique Carnol, Bastien Castagneyrol, Yohan Charbonnier, David Anthony Coomes, Andrea Coppi, Cristina C. Bastias, Seid Muhie Dawud, Hans De Wandeler, Timo Domisch, Leena Finér, Arthur Gessler, André Granier, Charlotte Grossiord, Virginie Guyot, Stephan Hättenschwiler, Hervé Jactel, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Tommaso Jucker, Julia Koricheva, Harriet Milligan, Sandra Mueller, Bart Muys, Diem Nguyen, Martina Pollastrini, Sophia Ratcliffe, Karsten Raulund-Rasmussen, Federico Selvi, Jan Stenlid, Fernando Valladares, Lars Vesterdal, Dawid Zielínski, and Markus Fische

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biotic homogenization can decrease landscape-scale forest multifunctionality

Plas

Manning

Soliveres

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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228

144

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Fungal disease incidence along tree diversity gradients depends on latitude in European forests

Nguyen

Castagneyrol

Bruelheide

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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European forests host a diversity of tree species that are increasingly threatened by fungal pathogens, which may have cascading consequences for forest ecosystems and their functioning. Previous experimental studies suggest that foliar and root pathogen abundance and disease severity decrease with increasing tree species diversity, but evidences from natural forests are rare. Here, we tested whether foliar fungal disease incidence was negatively affected by tree species diversity in different forest types across Europe. We measured the foliar fungal disease incidence on 16 different tree species in 209 plots in six European countries, representing a forest‐type gradient from the Mediterranean to boreal forests. Forest plots of single species (monoculture plots) and those with different combinations of two to five tree species (mixed species plots) were compared. Specifically, we analyzed the influence of tree species richness, functional type (conifer vs. broadleaved) and phylogenetic diversity on overall fungal disease incidence. The effect of tree species richness on disease incidence varied with latitude and functional type. Disease incidence tended to increase with tree diversity, in particular in northern latitudes. Disease incidence decreased with tree species richness in conifers, but not in broadleaved trees. However, for specific damage symptoms, no tree species richness effects were observed. Although the patterns were weak, susceptibility of forests to disease appears to depend on the forest site and tree type.

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Toward a methodical framework for comprehensively assessing forest multifunctionality

Trogisch

Schuldt

Bauhus

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has extended its scope from communities that are short‐lived or reshape their structure annually to structurally complex forest ecosystems. The establishment of tree diversity experiments poses specific methodological challenges for assessing the multiple functions provided by forest ecosystems. In particular, methodological inconsistencies and nonstandardized protocols impede the analysis of multifunctionality within, and comparability across the increasing number of tree diversity experiments. By providing an overview on key methods currently applied in one of the largest forest biodiversity experiments, we show how methods differing in scale and simplicity can be combined to retrieve consistent data allowing novel insights into forest ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, we discuss and develop recommendations for the integration and transferability of diverse methodical approaches to present and future forest biodiversity experiments. We identified four principles that should guide basic decisions concerning method selection for tree diversity experiments and forest BEF research: (1) method selection should be directed toward maximizing data density to increase the number of measured variables in each plot. (2) Methods should cover all relevant scales of the experiment to consider scale dependencies of biodiversity effects. (3) The same variable should be evaluated with the same method across space and time for adequate larger‐scale and longer‐time data analysis and to reduce errors due to changing measurement protocols. (4) Standardized, practical and rapid methods for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem functions should be promoted to increase comparability among forest BEF experiments. We demonstrate that currently available methods provide us with a sophisticated toolbox to improve a synergistic understanding of forest multifunctionality. However, these methods require further adjustment to the specific requirements of structurally complex and long‐lived forest ecosystems. By applying methods connecting relevant scales, trophic levels, and above‐ and belowground ecosystem compartments, knowledge gain from large tree diversity experiments can be optimized.

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A novel comparative research platform designed to determine the functional significance of tree species diversity in European forests

Cited by 193 publications

References 34 publications

Biotic homogenization can decrease landscape-scale forest multifunctionality

Biotic homogenization can decrease landscape-scale forest multifunctionality

Fungal disease incidence along tree diversity gradients depends on latitude in European forests

Toward a methodical framework for comprehensively assessing forest multifunctionality

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